


Inner Workings

by peacemonger98



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: And angsty, M/M, Spoilers for Episode: Dealing with INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS, all in the mind of virgil, cuz hes awesome, just some fun drabbles with a touch of angst, maybe more? idk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-13 10:54:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20173069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peacemonger98/pseuds/peacemonger98
Summary: Virgil had the biggest house move in all of history.





	1. Chapter 1

Thomas’ mind was…complicated, to say the least. To him, it was just his mind, an abstract concept that existed within his own consciousness. However, to the sides of his personality, it was a house of sorts. One side was dedicated to the “dark sides” and the other to the primary sides.

Each side had their own room in their half of the house. Each half also had a kitchen, living room and den. The two halves only shared one space, the lookout deck. It was also extremely obvious which half of the house belonged to which set of sides. 

The main players’ half was decked out in broadway playbills, Disney movies, astronomy-related posters and memorabilia from Thomas’ childhood, amongst other things. Once Virgil moved from the dark side, those decorations also began to include band stickers, small pieces of origami and pictures of androgynous models. 

The shift was jarring for both halves of Thomas’ mind, but the most jarring for Virgil. He went from embracing his role as a purely malevolent force to completely switching sides almost overnight. He had to take all his things from his old room into his new room, smack dab between Roman and Patton.

At first, he regressed to his old ways. He sat on the couch on the observation deck, looking though Thomas’ eyes and hearing through his ears. He separated himself from the group, not wanting to intrude or even assimilate. It was less painful to just keep to himself.

Eventually, he began to hang out in the living room, just off the kitchen. Of course, he brought his headphones with him, just in case things became too overwhelming. Where he had lived in respected solitude as a dark side, the main sides were much more…energetic.

For the literal embodiment of anxiety, this was more than jarring. Nonetheless, he adjusted little by little. He would pause his music and listen to the three of them have conversations about nothing in particular, watch Patton make nachos and snicker to himself when he bit into them prematurely, waving at his mouth and yelling about their temperature.

Over time, he even began taking part in conversations. Most of the time, it was a reaction to an outlandish idea by Roman or Patton, but his role are from that. He started talking to Logan more, listening and asking questions about the latest study he’d been reading.

After getting used to him, Patton didn’t seem so out of his comfort zone. He’d watch cute dog movies with him, snickering where Patton fell off the couch laughing and sharing popcorn.

Roman was by far the most difficult for him to connect to, though. He found that Roman was moving around much more than he once thought. One minute he was summoning himself to Thomas’ side to help brainstorm a video, the next he was rehearsing a ballad in his room.

Virgil would circle the whole house multiple times before he even caught a glimpse of Princey. When he did finally catch up, he didn’t quite know what to say. The other two had been so open and willing to connect, where Roman just wanted to know what Virge needed so he could continue his activities.

This was frustrating, to say the least. He was determined to make an effort and earn his place in this part of Thomas’ mind. He found connecting face-to-face didn’t work too well, so he tried other methods. 

When he’d make extra food, he would put portions in the fridge for the others to have, putting notes on the containers for each of them. He made little origami stars and put a few of them outside each sides’ door in the middle of the night. 

He thought these gestures were going unnoticed by Roman. Patton and Logan each made a point to thank him for his gifts, no matter how small, and he noticed they would either get hung up in the house or placed inside their respective rooms. 

He felt defeated. He didn’t know how else to get through to Roman. Verbal communication was a bust, now he thought gifts were also out? He was getting to the end of his rope when his efforts paid off one night.

He was hunched over his desk, scribbling some thoughts onto paper, when he heard a small thud from outside his door, followed by a knock. By the time he opened his door, the hallway was devoid of people. He looked down at his feet and found an intricately decorated box.

He picked it up and brought it in his room, closing the door behind him. He sat back down at his desk and placed the gorgeous box on top of his notebook. He unlatched it and let out a chuckle when he saw its contents.

Within the box were makeup removing wipes, a new eyeliner crayon, an eyeshadow palette and small vial of black glitter. Taped to the inside lid was a small note that said, in swooping handwriting, “Ten points to Virgil”. He would never tell him that he blushed so hard, it shone through his eyeshadow.

From then on, when Roman would see Virgil in passing, he’d give him a gleaming smile or mischievous wink, all the confirmation he needed that he truly belonged here now. Patton and Logan spoke endlessly to him about their interests, but Roman gave him witty notes and music playlists. 

When the two spoke, it was brief without being awkward and full of acceptance. 

Virgil finally felt at peace.

Of course, that didn’t last very long.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Virgil hogs the couch.

Thomas had to find out sooner or later his nature. That Virgil was at one point a dark side. While he thought it was fairly obvious what his true nature was, saying it out loud to the one person to which he owed his existence was soul-crushing.

He regressed, to say the least. He spent almost all his time on the observation deck, shared by both halves of Thomas’ mind. Due to this, Thomas was anxious pretty much 24/7. Having Virgil exist only on the deck left him fidgety and uncomfortable at all times. No matter what his friends said to him, they couldn’t rid him of his anxiety for even a moment.

Inside his mind, his sides couldn’t rid Thomas of Virgil. Each of them tried getting through to him in their own way. 

“Hey kiddo! I just finished baking some yummy enchiladas. You wanna try em?” Patton exclaimed from the kitchen, leaning out to look at Virge with a thousand watt smile. The only response he received was a small shake of the head. 

“You know we all love you, right kiddo?” He added, quieter. There was a pause, but Virgil just slumped over and pulled a blanket over himself. It would be an understatement to say that Patton was sad. 

Later, Logan tried to get through. “Virgil, I believe you forgot your large headphones in your room. Do you think you would like to go retrieve them?” Again, a shake of the head from the now prone form on the observation couch. And a sigh from Logan.

“How about some sustenance? It has been a ‘hot minute’ since you have cooked anything.” Logan applauded internally at his use of another vocabulary term. Usually those made Virgil exhibit some semblance of positive emotion. This time, there was no laugh and no response.

How could they know what he felt like? No matter what they said, they couldn’t possibly love him still, let alone tolerate his presence. They only kept talking to him at all because he was needed to keep Thomas alive and functioning. They learned that much when he holed himself up the first time.

If he stayed on the couch, Thomas could still function and he didn’t have to make himself a burden anymore. They could weigh in on issues in his life and he didn’t have to talk. Didn’t have to be rejected. Didn’t have to accept his fate as a dark side once more.

He couldn’t face going back to them. Remus and Deceit were fine, especially alone. They had their own charms, just like the light sides. But, his true adversary resided on the dark side. 

He didn’t even want to let himself think of the orange-clad side, rather moving his attention to what Thomas was currently doing. He spaced out staring at the scenery Thomas was looking at from the window of the passenger seat of a car. 

During this soothing scene, Roman pulled out the grandest of grand gestures. He sat down next to Virgil with his ukulele.

“Scooch, panic at the everywhere,” he snarked as he sat by Virgil’s head. This earned him an almost unnoticeable snicker from the form under the hoodie and blanket. He did get Virge to move over, just enough for Roman to sit comfortably without falling off.

They both sighed. “Don't you just adore the sunset?” Roman mused. Virgil hummed in assent. “I think this is one of the few things I could look at forever, besides myself of course,” he boasted. Again, a tiny snicker from under the blanket.

He watched the scenery go by in silence. Thomas was on a long road trip, so Roman knew they had an ample amount of time. And Thomas did love himself a sunset, obviously.

After a comfortable stretch of time, Virgil pulled his hood off and scooted a fraction of an inch closer to Roman. The prince was pleased with this development and perceived it as his cue to begin his gesture. 

“Virge, do you mind if I rehearse a song?” The de-hooded form nodded after a moment. Roman inwardly exclaimed in joy. Outwardly, he simply took his uke and placed it on his right thigh, his left being occupied by Virgil’s hair and some of his blanket.

With a strum, he began, “_So they came, one by one, there was never any warning, Bled out the stuck pig fields like it was gonna last long” _

Virgil actually smiled, small as it was. Roman was singing a song from one of his favorite bands. It wasn’t showy or grand or even remotely Princey’s style.

It meant more to Virgil than he could possibly express. He listened to every note from Roman’s mouth, allowing his walls to finally fall. 

“_Cross the peaks, cross the marsh, cross your fingers for the last time, And pass out the blame to someone and never step it up side,” _Roman softly sang. On and on, he gently intoned the melody Virge knew so well. 

On the last set of “Oh”s, he put the ukulele down and placed his hand on Virgil’s head. Sensing no tensing up, he started carding his hands through his hair. He continued to hum the tune, well past the actual ending point of the song. 

Upon peaking down, he saw Virgil’s eyeshadow running from tears. Knowing how he would react upon this being noticed, Roman just continued to stroke his hair and hum.

By the time Thomas was asleep, so was Virgil. Roman felt an odd feeling in his chest, doing something for someone else purely because he cared. Not that he was selfish, but he was Thomas’ ego. Not thinking of himself wasn’t his strong suit.

Roman gingerly got up from the couch and positioned himself in front of Virge. After mentally debating on how to go about it, he slid his arms under the sleeping side’s legs and back. He slowly lifted him off the couch in a princess carry. He must have been truly exhausted, because Virgil didn’t stir in the slightest. 

He carried him slowly up the stairs and into Roman’s own room. He figured stewing in his dark and depressing dwelling would only serve to make him more upset, so Roman’s bright and warm room it was. 

He laid Virgil down on the bed, the blanket from the couch still draped over him. He adjusted it so it covered him better and silently wished him better. 

If only it were that easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about the spacing i was too lazy to go in and delete all the extra spaces  
let me know what you think! i think i might have to add a prinxiety tag soon :3
> 
> also the song is The Peaks by Everything Everything and its bomb go listen to itttttt

**Author's Note:**

> leave a comment if u like it! this is my first sanders sides fic so hey gimme some feedback. if u want this continue, harass me here or on tumblr @wolfenshire


End file.
